Golden Isles Speedway
Feb. 1 prelims: O'Neal grabs pole position
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Shannon Babb debuted his new No. 18. (DirtonDirt.com)
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Feb. 1) — Don O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., raced to the pole position at Golden Isles Speedway's Super Bowl of Racing IV on Friday night. Terry Casey of New London, Wis., was the night's fast qualifier, but O'Neal won the first heat race. Details of Friday's preliminaries:
Non-qualifiers' race
Polesitter Tim Fuller led all the way for a victory over Tim McCreadie, who finished nearly a straightaway behind. Matt Miller was third and John Blankenship, debuting a new Bloomquist Race Car, was fourth. Steve Francis was incorrectly listed as the polesitter in an earlier version of this story. Fuller turned down the $500 winner's purse and chose to start on the tail of the feature.
Finish: (1) Tim Fuller, (2) Tim McCreadie, (3) Matt Miller, (4) John Blankenship, (5) Randle Chupp, (6) Dillon Wood, (7) Damon Eller, (8) Tony Knowles, (9) Dave Hess Jr.
Second consolation
Polesitter Chris Madden cruised to an easy victory while Chub Frank edged Tim McCreadie for the second spot. The race's lone caution appeared on the sixth lap when Dale Hammond spun exiting turn two on the sixth lap. Starting third, McCreadie got past Frank in the early laps, but Frank overtook Steve Francis and then McCreadie in the final laps to finish second. Shane Clanton rallied from mid-pack to finish fourth and was awarded a promoter's option to start the feature as the top points driver of the week not already in the feature.
Finish: (1) Chris Madden, (2) Chub Frank, (3) Tim McCreadie, (4) Shane Clanton, (5) Dave Hess Jr., (6) Steve Francis, (7) Rick Eckert, (8) Justin Rattliff, (9) Stacy Holmes, (10) Danny Johnson, (11) Jason Fitzgerald, (12) Bodine Massingill, (13) Tony Knowles, (14) Ed Basey, (15) John Mason, (16) Joe Isabell, (17) Dale Hammond, (18) G.R. Smith.
First consolation
Starting outside the front row, Billy Moyer outjumped polesitter Darren Miller at the outset and kept Miller at bay for a victory. Tim Fuller moved up from his sixth starting spot to third, but he couldn't catch the front two. Fuller will start on the front row of the non-qualifiers' race. Matt Miller was fourth and Damon Eller fifth. A turn-two melee on the first lap forced a complete restart. The rear of Kelly Boen's car bounded in the air as the wreck developed to include Chesley Dixon, Patrick Sheltra, Anthony Hill and others. A second caution on the fourth lap appeared for Bo Smith, who got out of shape in turn four. Boen and Mark Vineyard were among cars failing to finish, but they were awarded provisional starting spots for the feature, Vineyard via 2007 points and Boen via 2008 points.
Finish: (1) Billy Moyer, (2) Darren Miller, (3) Tim Fuller, (4) Matt Miller, (5) Damon Eller, (6) Jason McBride, (7) John Blankenship, (8) Randle Chupp, (9) James Ward, (10) Tommy Kerry, (11) Dillon Wood, (12) Tyler Ivey, (13) Brent Dixon, (14) Derek Ellis, (15) Steven Howard, (16) Kelly Boen, (17) Bo Smith, (18) Mark Vineyard.
Sixth heat
Dan Schlieper repelled repeated challenges from Earl Pearson Jr. for his first heat race victory of the Super Bowl of Racing. Pearson pressured Schlieper hard the first few laps before dropping back and cruising in second the rest of the way. Shanon Buckingham barely held on to the third transfer spot after Stacy Holmes tried the inside groove several times. Dave Hess Jr. finished further back in fifth
Finish: (1) Dan Schlieper, (2) Earl Pearson Jr., (3) Shanon Buckingham, (4) Stacy Holmes, (5) Dave Hess Jr., (6) Jason Fitzgerald, (7) Bodine Massengill, (8) Tony Knowles, (9) G.R. Smith, (10) Dave Tyrchniewicz.
Fifth heat
Polesitter Ivedent Lloyd Jr. grabbed the early lead and cruised to an easy victory in the 10-lapper. Fourth-starting Dennis Erb Jr. quickly moved up to second and held that spot the remainder of the race. Anthony White appeared to have third in hand on the white-flag lap, but Matt Miller nearly caught him at the stripe. Miller was fourth and Tim Fuller fifth.
Finish: (1) Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (2) Dennis Erb Jr., (3) Anthony White, (4) Matt Miller, (5) Tim Fuller, (6) Brent Dixon, (7) Casey Roberts, (8) Anthony Hill, (9) Mark Andersen.
Fourth heat
Jimmy Owens overtook a high-running Steve Shaver midway through the race and went on to a heat race victory despite running with a cracked engine block. In a battle for the third and final transfer spot, Clint Smith made a last-lap pass of Steve Francis, who will run a consolation race. Tim McCreadie was a distant fifth and third-starting John Mason faded badly to seventh.
Finish: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Steve Shaver, (3) Clint Smith, (4) Steve Francis, (5) Tim McCreadie, (6) Rick Eckert, (7) John Mason, (8) Mike Collins, (9) Dale Hammond.
Third heat
Starting outside the front row, Bloomquist got the jump on polesitter Donnie Moran at the outset and raced to victory. Moran finished just ahead of a wild battle between Josh Richards and Billy Moyer for the third and final transfer spot. Moyer worked on Richards for several laps, but slipped back on the seventh lap. Richards held on for the third spot with Moyer fourth and Jason McBride a distant fifth.
Finish: (1) Scott Bloomquist, (2) Donnie Moran, (3) Josh Richards, (4) Billy Moyer, (5) Jason McBride, (6) Tommy Kerr, (7) Randle Chupp, (8) James Ward, (9) Chesley Dixon, (10) Steven Howard.
Second heat
Billy Decker won a four-wide battle exiting turn four on the first lap to grab a lead he'd never give up. Michael England got the second transfer spot while Shannon Babb barely edged Chris Madden for the third and final transfer spot. Shane Clanton rallied from the tail to finish sixth.
Finish: (1) Billy Decker, (2) Michael England, (3) Shannon Babb, (4) Chris Madden, (5) Chub Frank, (6) Shane Clanton, (7) Justin Rattliff, (8) Ed Basey, (9) Danny Johnson, (10) Joe Isabell.
First heat
Don O'Neal started outside the front row and led all 10 laps. Polesitter Terry Casey fought off challenges from Brady Smith to finish second while Darren Miller finished further back in fourth.
Finish: (1) Don O'Neal, (2) Terry Casey, (3) Brady Smith, (4) Darren Miller, (5) Damon Eller, (6) Patrick Sheltra, (7) Kelly Boen, (8) Tyler Ivey, (9) Dillon Wood, (10) Mark Vineyard, (11) Bo Smith.
Qualifying
Terry Casey of New London, Wis., was the fastest among 65 entrants on Friday night, giving him his second fast qualifying time at Golden Isles Speedway's Super Bowl of Racing IV. Casey posted a lap of 15.656 second as he didn't appear to crack the throttle on the 4/10-mile southeast Georgia oval. | Free video
Casey will start on the pole of the first of six O'Reilly Southern All Star Series heat races. Among other drivers starting on the pole of heats: Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio; three-time race winner Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.; defending SAS champion Ivedent Lloyd Jr. of Ocala, Fla.; and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla.
Babb, a two-time Dirt Track World Champion, is making his first start for a car owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer. Owens isn't sure his engine will last the night. The team discovered a cracked engine block before time trials, and they used sodium silicate to seal the crack in hopes the powerplant will last through a heat race and 50-lap feature.
Pre-race notebook
Heat races are extended to 10 laps apiece tonight after three nights of running eight-lap heats for the Super Late Models. ... Among drivers making their first appearance was Chuck Harper of Beverly, W.Va., and former Dirt Track World Champion John Mason of Millersburg, Ohio. ... John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., was on hand before Thursday's rainout, but didn't qualify last night. He was debuting a new Bloomquist Race Car and posted a lap of just 17.539 seconds. ... Another new driver, Bodine Massengill of Jacksonville, Fla., ran into a little trouble in hot laps when his steering wheel came off on the frontstretch. Onrushing cars narrowly avoided him as he turned into the infield. ... Shane Clanton had a flat left rear tire during time trials and spun between turns three and four. Rick Eckert's lap was hampered by Clanton departing the track and was offered a chance at second lap, which he took. ... Jimmy Owens lowered the track record before Thursday's rainout with a lap of 15.252 seconds. Track officials initially announced the record wouldn't stand, but revised that decision on Friday. ... Friday's weather is pleasant and clear with temperatures still hovering around 70 as hot laps began about 5 p.m. and the crowd appeared to be the biggest since the Super Bowl began on Jan. 23. ... Besides Super Late Models, also in action at Golden Isles on Friday is National Late Model Series cars, TQ Late Models and super streets. NLMS qualifying follows the Super Late Models. The SAS feature is the second of four scheduled.
